First Post

Welcome! I am grateful you're here.

As the name implies, Artist with ADHD is a blog about creating art as a person with ADHD. But it's so much more than that. First, my notion of "art" is broad. Second, it's not all about having ADHD. It might be more accurate to say this is a blog about pursuing your dreams despite your limitations, and maybe even because of them.

So, what's in a name then? Why do I call myself an artist?

I call myself an artist because it captures better than any other word how I want to inhabit the world. My strongest impulse is to create, to process my experience by recording it in some way. (To express myself.)

I think being an artist is a way of operating, a way of navigating and making sense of the world. It’s more about how you do something than what you do. Artist describes someone who is easily inspired, not because she isn't discerning but because she is sensitive and perceptive and compelled to share (these insights) with others.

In this context, “art” is anything that comes out of the creative process.

About "with ADHD"

Like identifying as an"artist", saying I have ADHD captures an essential part of my experience. Someone with ADHD fundamentally experiences the world differently, and with this unique perspective comes unique challenges.

While ADHD is something I embrace about myself, it has often felt at direct odds with achieving what’s most important to me. The same brain that dazzles with creativity drowns in overwhelm.

For so much of my life, I felt like I was living in the shadow of the life I was meant to have. The life I could have if I only I could do the things I said I wanted to do. If only I could finish what I started.

I have a feeling I am not alone. People with ADHD tend to be highly creative and full of potential.

But now back to my second point, I promise it really isn't all about ADHD. It’s about being human and having problems that get in the way of your goals.

My experience is inseparable from my brain wiring because I’m human, but I hope you will come to learn that my POV is shaped by much more than ADHD, and that I offer more nuanced takes on modern problems of ambition, goal pursuit, and limitations.

This space is for anyone who has a dream. Anyone who is struggling to be their best selves, to live up to their potential and follow through on their ideas.

For me, “artist” is the goal. It represents authenticity, it means I am someone who pursues her creative ideas, undertakes creative endeavors, follows the impulse, the inspiration. Artist is the goal. ADHD is the challenge. It’s the space between them that I hope to reconcile here.

And, by the way, I haven't figured it all out. But my life does look a lot more like what I imagined it to be when I think about "thriving", about showing up as someone who lives up to her potential (most of the time).

By publishing this blog, I’m committing to figure out how to fulfill my goals and follow through on ideas. And I’m committing to doing this in front of you in the hope that you may feel less alone if you’re on a similar path or if you’ve struggled in a similar way.